Curtain for vestibule-cars.



No. 643,434. Patented Feb. l3, I900. T. H. WICKES.

CURTAIN FOR VESTIBULE CABS.

(Application filed Nov. 4, 1897.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

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Patented Feb. l3, I900.

T. u. WICKES. CURTAIN FOR VESTIBULE CARS.

(Application fild Navy. 4, 1591. (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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THOMAS H. XVICKES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PULLMANS PALACE CAR COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CURTAIN FOR VESTlBULE-CAR S'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,434, dated February 13, 1906.

Application filed November 4, 1897. Serial No. 657,326. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. WICKES, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Ourtains for Vestibule-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to curtains for vestibule-cars, and has for its object to provide means whereby the meeting edges of the archplates and the folds of the connecting-bellows of cars of this description when coupled together will be covered and protected, so as to prevent injury to the persons or clothing of the passengers by coming in contact with or being caught between these parts. In vestibule-cars as generally constructed each platform is provided with two vertical stanchions, which form the sides or jambs of the doorway of the vestibule, and with an arch-plate which is capable of movement toward and from the stanchions and is connected therewith at each side of the doorway by means of a flexible connection, which is usually formed of rubber or other fabric, folded after the manner of a bellows, and which serve to keep the space between the arch-plate and stanchions closed at the sides, while permitting free relative movement between the two. The arch-plate of each car-platform is adapted to abut against a similar arch-plate supported from the platform of the adjacent car, the two arch-plates being held against each other by spring-pressure or other means, so as to be maintained in constant contact with each other when the cars are coupled, while at the same time they are capable of lateral movement relatively to each other.

As the connecting passage-way between the vestibules of the adjacent cars formed by the structure just described is in constant use as a means of communication between the various cars of the train, the possibility exists that the clothing of passengers and others may become engaged between the relativelymoving parts of the arch-plates or bellows or that in using their hands to steady themselves against the movements of the train they may place them upon these parts, and thereby subject them to injury. It is the object of my invention to obviate these dangers, and this object I accomplish by providing on each side of the passage-way between the car-vestibules a flexible screen or curtain which is mounted upon a spring-controlled roller on one of the cars and which may be drawn across the side wall of the passage and secured to the other car in such a position as to cover and protect the meeting edges of the arch-plates and the bellows connecting said plates with the door-stanchions, so that the garments of the passengers cannot become caught or entangled nor their persons injured by contact with the side walls of the passage. These flexible curtains or screens being connected with spring-actuated rollers at one end and being connected to the other car at the other end, said spring-rollers will always keep the curtains at a proper tension, taking up slack and paying out the curtains as the two cars approach or recede from each other. I also pro vide for the free edge of the curtain or screen a fastening of such a character that it will hold said free edge under normal strains, but in case of a separation of the cars either by accident or design will release said free edge and permit the spring-roller to take or wind up the curtain or screen without any injury to the same.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an elevation of the end wall and doorway of a car-vestibule looking from the interior thereof outward toward the passage way between the cars. Fig. 2 is a plan section of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view, partly broken away, of a portion of the construction shown in Fig. 2. Fig. at is a detail View, in central vertical section, of the catch; and Fig. 5 is aview similar to the upper portion of Fig. 3, illustrating a modified form of construction.

In the said drawings the stanchions which form the door posts or jambs of the end doorway of the vestibule are indicated by 10, and the arch-plates are shown at 11.

12 indicates the bellows which connect the respective arch-plates to the stanchions. Each vestibule is provided with a roller 13, which is mounted in a vertical position in suitable bearings and which is controlled by a spring 14 in the manner usual and well known in spring-rollers for window-curtains and the like. I prefer to mount these rollers on one of the door-stanchious of each vestibule, and I prefer for this purpose the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, in which a metal case 15 of cylindrical form and provided with a longitudinal slot 16 for the passage of the curtain is secured to the stanchion ordoor-post either by means of brackets 17, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, or in any other suitable manner. In these figures I have shown the casing and supporting-brackets as partly sunk into the wood of which the doorpost is composed, and in Fig. 5 I have shown a modified construction wherein the casingis formed of the material of the stanchion or door-post proper, which latter is provided with a recess 18 to receive the'roller 13, the major portion of the opening of said recess through which the roller is inserted and removed being covered by a removable plate 19 and the outer edge of said recess being provided with a metallic friction-strip 20,over which the body of the curtain or screen 20 slides. In this construction the slot 16 is formed or located between the free edge of the plate 19 and the friction-strip 20. The free end of the curtain or screen is provided, as usual, with a stick or rod 21 to stiffen and strengthen the same and with a loop-shaped handle 22, secured to said rod and by means of which the curtain or screen may be readily grasped and moved back and forth.

23 indicates the catch, which is pivoted to the adjacent door-post of the other car and which is controlled by a spring of greater strength than that of the roller. In practice I employ a metallic socket-piece 2%, mounted in the door-post or stanchion and provided with a vertical pivot 25, on which is mounted the catch 23, which latter extends through a slot 26 in the outer face of the socket-piece and is forced normally inward toward theinterior of the car by means of a spring or springs 27, inclosed within the socket-piece. This catch is adapted to engage with a cooperating loop on the free edge of the curtain or screen, andin practice I find it convenient to embody this cooperating element in the handle 22, which being loop-shaped is adapted to be engaged and held bythe catch. I may, however, provide separate engaging devices independent of the handle.

YVhen the cars are not coupled together, the curtain or screen is drawn within its casing by means of the spring-roller, the rod or stick in the free end thereof serving to close the slot of said casing and protect the curtain from dirt or dust. \Vhen the cars are coupled together, the curtain may be grasped by the handle and drawn out of its casing along the wall of the passage between the vestibules until its free end is engaged by the catch, which, owing to the superior strength of its spring or springs, will hold the curtain or screen in an extended or open position, covering and protecting the adjacent wall of the passage in the manner hereinbefore described. The curtain will accommodate itself to the lateral movements of the two cars, and owing to the spring-roller the curtain will be paid out or taken up in accordance with the varying longitudinal movements of the cars, so that the curtain will always be automatically kept t-aut. The curtain may be released by simplypressing back the catchin an obvious manner, and in case of the separation of the cars, either by accident or design, when the catch has not been released, the excess of strain on the curtain will force the catch back until it releases the curtain, which will then be wound up by the spring-roller out of harms way without injury thereto.

The curtains or screens covering the side walls of the passage-way not only serve to protect the clothing and persons of the passengers and others, but also serve the purpose of decorating said passage-walls and giving them a superior finish and appearance, since the curtains may be made of suitable materials for this purpose and will cover and conceal the unsightly portions of said walls.

It is obvious that various modifications in the details of the structure hereinbefore set forth may be made without departing from the principle of my invention. For example, instead of a single catch located about centrally of the vertical height of the curtain or screen a plurality of these catches, suitably located at other points, may be employed. Moreover, instead of the Specific form of catch hereinbefore set forth any other suitable device for engaging and holding the free edge of the screen maybe employed, as I consider that such a construction would come within the scope of my invention. Other modifications, such as the employment of a plurality of screens on each side of the passage-way or the attachment of them to other parts of the vestibule than the stanchions or door-posts, will readily suggest themselves, and I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting myself strictly to the precise construction hereinbefore described, and shown in the accompanying drawings.

I claim- 1.. The combination, with the vestibuled ends of each of two adjacent cars, provided with extensions comprising contacting faceplates and bellows or other extensible connections forming side walls of the passage, of vertical spring-actuated rollers mounted on each of said cars adjacent to the end doorway of the vestibule thereof, curtains or flexible screens connected to said rollers and adapted to be laterally extended to cover and protect the inner edges of therface-plate and the side walls of the passage between the vestibules, and means for fastening the free ends of said curtains or screens, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the vestibuled ends of each of two adjacent cars, provided with extensions comprising contacting faceplates and bellows or other extensible connections forming side walls of the passage, of vertical spring-actuated rollers mounted on each of said cars adjacent to the end doorway of the vestibule thereof, curtains or flexible screens connected to said rollers and adapted to be laterally extended to cover and protect the inner edges of the face-plates and the side walls of the passage between the vestibules, and yielding catches for securing the free ends of said curtains or screens, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the vestibuled ends of each of two adjacent cars, of vertical Witnesses:

FREDERICK O. GOODWIN, IRVInE MILLER. 

